Domino Effect
by Toastersbane
Summary: The two groups that once enemies with each other are now at peace. But when one cat makes the ultimately worse decision to ever be made, which causing something much worse to happen, and then something more terrible, until something becomes so bad that it doesn't seem like in can be fixed. Two cats can fix it though. An attempt by them couldn't possibly make this more horrific.
1. Prologue

**I haven't posted another story in a long while. Might as well get to one.**

This was his chance. He and his victim in a densely covered forest with wide dark green leaves covering the few strands of light in this starless night. The air was as still as death and not a mouse would dare to break the silence. The moon wasn't even present tonight. It was as if the dark lord aligned this just _perfectly _to give the tomcat this chance. His chance at glory, respect, forgiveness...

And bloodshed.

_Oh, what a wonderful night. _

He straight at his victim, a ginger tabby with a belly so large that it seemed like she ate a raccoon before the kidnapped caught her. Of course, with the milk scent that came from her, it was clear that she was expecting, and her kits could be arriving soon. But it wasn't like they would anyways. Beginning to make his move towards her, the queen took a step back.

A terrible decision on her part.

The tom lunged for her and successfully knocked her into a tree which filled the air with a new, metallic scent. As she was too vulnerable to not maul further, the tom bounded towards her and rolled her over to hold the queen down.

The queen was now on her back, her unborn kits exposed to the air. She was immobilized by his dark rust-colored paws that now had her pinned. Just one swipe... and it'll all be over for the pathetic rat.

"Do ya know how lucky ya are?" the captor asked, his dark tail slowly lashing side to side.

He didn't get a response from the ginger she-cat, who only continued to glare at him.

Giving the queen a rather contemptuous look, he lifted his paws off of her. The queen tried to lift herself off her back and run off. However, her kits held her back and the tom slammed his paw down on her head, making her let out a yowl of surprise. The queen temporarily stunned gave the tom the chance to dig his claws on the molly's ginger flank. Proceeding with that action, he smirked at the twisted and wide-eyed look his target gave him.

He grimaced when he saw scarlet blood follow his black claws when he was done with his attack. Putting his forepaw back down on the ground, he saw the queen try to lick her flank. Darting for the queen, he slashed at her ears. She let out a bloodcurdling scream.

_Music to my ears._

Pinning the cat again, he leaned in so close that now both of the cats' foreheads were touching.

"Speak darlin'," he ordered in a rather sweet manner. One that would make one shiver had they were nearly killed by this wolf in a cat's skin. "Before I got to get out my claws and run 'em down ya face."

The she-cat only managed a small croak. "No." The tom cackled at her answer.

"Oh, but ya just did!" Smirking for a bit longer at the molly before he shook his head, the tom dashed for the queen and knocked her over. Blood came from an open wound coming from her forehead. As the bloody cat looked wide-eyed at the tom, he merely shrugged and replied, "You was gettin' mighty boring. I had to do something to make this entertaining."

"You," the ginger tabby hissed.

"What 'bout me?"

"You didn't win."

Those words made the tom's blood turn to ice. Fear flashed in the tom's amber eyes, he began to tremble, and let out a clearly audible yowl. Out of a twisted combination of anger and terror burning in his head, he raked his claws down the victim's throat. One last spasm came from the queen's body before she lay still, her green eyes now dulled with death.

The tom got up and ran from the corpse. His heart began to pound hard in his chest as his flank brushed twigs and thorns, which clung to his fur. He felt his fur rise down his spine as sudden bouts of screams and red hazes began to form in his mind. Running blindly away from the body, he felt scarlet blood begin to stick to his paws.

He didn't know where he was as thoughts began to barrel him.

_The Empress will know what happened!_

_More cats know about us!_

_You foolish, foolish idiot!_

That last thought made him halt. He sat down and begin to take short and panicked breaths. If he had few fears, one of them would be being a disgrace in front of all the cats he grew to chat and train with. A disgrace to his second family to put it simply.

But that now put him back in his real surroundings. His amber gaze slowly scanned the area. A stream flowing neatly a few foxlengths ahead of him. Pale orange grass below him, which felt oddly spiky. A dark shadow with sharp edges that came from behind the cat made him turn to look at the thing. His eyes narrowed.

_Just a pine tree,_ he thought as she shrugged and turned back to look at the stream.

_How did I get here? _A shrug from the tom answered that. _I wouldn't know, nor would I care anyways._

He continued to admire the stream when a creak sounded behind the dark brown tom. His ears perked up, but he did nothing more.

Another creak. The tom tried to ignore it, if not for his fur starting to make him look like a bush.

The sound of something snapping was clearly a terrible sign. The cat turned around to see what happened.

Too late for the poor soul.

The pine tree fell and landed on the tom, who's spine was ultimately crushed by the tree. His muzzle twitched and a spasm racked his body one last time before he went limp.


	2. Chapter 1: Scorch

**Review Responses**

_Guest Feathershade ~ You do have a fair point. Thank you for the reminder. I will try to fix my actions and figure out an alternative on what to do about the situation._

* * *

_**Sapphire's Group**_

Leader

Sapphire Sea - Grey she-cat with darker flecks

Surrogates

Ashen Sky - Grey and white molly with black legs

Lightning Blast - Black tabby tom with blue eyes

Menders

Falling Snow - White tom

Faint Lichen - Pale grey tabby tom

Smooth Stream - Brown tabby she-cat

Slight Drift - Grey and white tom

Providers

Flare Burst - Ginger tom with amber eyes

Berry Cluster - Brown and white patched tom

Eagle Feather - Cream and black she-cat

Pale Sun - Ginger tabby tom with yellow eyes

Smoke Paws - Grey tabby molly with paler paws

Broken Branch - Brown tabby tom

Mossy Stone - Dark tortoiseshell molly with cream features

Mouse Tail - Grey tom with white speckles

Pupils

Scorched Briar - Chocolate calico molly with pale yellow eyes

Quiet Splash - Blue-grey molly with green eyes

Sage Leaf - Brown tom with darker legs

Swirling Breeze - Black tom with yellow eyes

Kit-watchers

Fox's Howl - Dark ginger tortoiseshell molly (Mother to Lightning Blast's kits, Tiny Sapling - Black she-kit with white paws and Rising Moon - Dark ginger and white she-kit with green eyes)

Glistening Dew - Silver tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Silver Moon - Grey and white dappled molly (Mother to Broken Branch's kits, Dark grey tom, Starling's Cry - Brown tabby she-kit with a white tail, Scattered Fire - Brown and white tabby tom, and Cloudy Snout - Seal and white patched tom)

Seniors

Startled Mouse - Dark grey tom with green eyes

* * *

Scorched Briar sat with her fluffy tail neatly curled around her paws as she watched her denmates tussle around the bracken walls of the camp, with the black cat clearly outmatched against the brown one. The blue-grey molly beside her bristled as she saw her "lion-heart" get beaten by his opponent or, what the molly hated to admit, her brother. The calico she-cat couldn't resist rolling her eyes as her denmate caught her blue gaze then blushed and averted the pale blue gaze that glinted with irritation.

"Leaf, I will pull your tail right off!" The molly's ears flicked at a shrill meow that rung inside the den, which also seemed to make the observer next to her jump a little.

The brown tom that was tussling with his opponent got up and stuck his tongue out at the black cat. "Well sorry if I'm _sooooooo _great at fighting and can beat you to a pulp if I want to!"

The black tom snarled and pounced on Leaf, nipping at his ear. Scorched Briar's brow arched as the duo's friendly tussle started to turn into a battle of sorts. Her thoughts pestered her with the desire to cheer on one of the two, mostly the black one in her opinion, just to make the other one pissed and escalate the fight. But the pupil knew better than to get on anyone's nerves.

The blue-grey molly spoke up just as the black tom unsheathed his claws. "Swirling Breeze, don't you think you should stop?"

"Excuse me, I don't remember asking you to say _anything _about this!" The den seemed to go silent as Swirling's hiss came out of his mouth.

_Hawk droppings! They stopped!_

The dappled molly got up and walked out of the den with her head low. Scorched Briar was indeed bummed out because her denmates had the audacity to _stop fighting_ just in the heat of battle, but there was something better she could do to make some good use of her time. As she was processing what to do now, her tail fur got caught in the thorny bush walls that made up her home, yanking her a bit back. Of course, her past moons of her traininghood have taught her that a swift pull from the wall would set her free from nature's traps.

Once more free from the bush and now in the bright sun of the Budding Season, the calico scanned the clearing for something to do. Her pale gaze caught a bracken hole in the bush, which also marked the nursery of this camp. Scorched Briar made her way over to the den, her paws stepping on the tiny green blades that made up the floor of her home. She stopped outside the den, crouching to peek inside.

"Sapling!" she whispered. A rustle sounded inside the den as a response to the pupil's call. A black figure zoomed right past her and fell headfirst.

The black figure recovered quickly after that little incident, though their fur was stuck out in all sorts of places. The cat spun around with their huge amber eyes locked on the calico. "Scorch! Just the cat I wanted to see!" The kit shook her fur to get the dust out of them. Sapling pushed the older molly into the nursery.

The musty scent of dust and milk flooded the pupil's nose, bringing back memories of playing in the dirt, sleeping against her brother's fur and little games that filled the nursery with chaos, muck, and most importantly, learning that cats didn't know that when they lost, they lost. Oh, how the chocolate-patched she-cat loved it when others whined about losing and excuses of "But he's older than me!" Sure, it was annoying, but it was a very entertaining thing to watch as yet _another _kit got beat by their denmate.

"Scorcho? Hey, are you listening to me?" the kit beside her asked, which was the one thing Scorched Briar heard.

"Oh, yes? What is it, Tiny?" Scorch responded.

The kit gasped. "No, you call me Sapling." _Oh here we go again. _The pupil dreaded it when her friend went on long (and pointless) rants about the littlest of things.

"You can call me Sap," Sapling continued. "By the Specters, you can just say Tiny Sapling if you're mad at me! But never, ever, ever, ever, _ever_, call me Tiny! That is very sizest and I will not stand by and be called Tiny when I'm clearly not- ow!"

Scorched Briar saw a pair of jaws grab Tiny Sapling by her scruff and yank her away. Looking up, a dark tortoiseshell began to scold the kit.

"Silver Moon just had her kits!" the queen hissed at the kit, who crouched in fear. _Silver had her kits? Fun. _

The pupil gazed at the bundles of fur next to a grey and white queen. _Other greyish blue and white one, dark grey one, brown tabby one -_ Scorch noticed the stumpy white tail next to that particular kit as she was observing the kits - _with a white tail, and brown and white regular tabby. As if there weren't a hundred tabbies around the territory already. _

The chocolate calico's ears pricked when she heard a low hiss. "If you can't stay quiet like your sister for one heartbeat, how can you expect to be the best hunter in Sapphire's group?" Sapling's amber eyes blazed when she stared at the queen, but continued to stay in the position she was in. "If you can't keep your mouth shut like your sister for _just _today, then you won't sleep in the nursery until the night there's no moon! Got it?"

"Yes, mother," the kit mumbled.

The tortoiseshell nodded. "Good. I'll be taking a nap then." The black she-kit looked down at her white paws with her ears flattened. Tiny Sapling stalked back over to the calico and flicked her tail for the pupil to follow here outside the nursery. Scorched Briar blinked, but followed the kit regardless. They walked over to a patch of tall plants in a particular spot of the camp, passing by their campmates who were busy discussing matters and the amount of prey that was around their territory. _The usual, _Scorch guessed with a roll of her eyes.

"What was that all about?" the pupil meowed.

"Oh, nothing _much_." The black molly's claws unsheathed as she spoke. "Just my mother comparing me to my oh-so-perfect sister _again_. For the fourth time. Today. And the sun isn't even at its peak."

"Well, Fox's Yowl-" Tiny Sapling cut off her friend.

"Don't you get compared to Sage Leaf a lot?"

That made Scorch let out a bark of laughter. "Me? Get compared to my brother?" The chocolate calico chuckled again. "You're funny. It happens all the time, Sap! We _are _training to be providers after all! The providers measure our progress by doing that!"

The black kit looked like she wanted to smack the molly with her tail. "What? No, I meant, by your _parents_."

"Oh." Scorched Briar softened. "Ohhh. Ohhhhhh. Ohhhhhhhhhhh-"

"Shut up and tell me about your parents!" Sapling hissed.

"Fine. Once upon a time, Berry Cluster and Mossy Stone had two kits named Sage Leaf and Scorched Briar. The end."

"Not that! Do they compare you with your brother?"

"Nah. At least, they try to avoid comparing us two. It happens when Mama's mad at us and say 'Be more like your sister!' or 'Be more like your brother!' And me and my littermate are basically nothing alike."

Tiny Sapling cocked her head. "Then why does Fox's Yowl compare me to Dawn all the time?"

"Briar! Saphie wants you to go on a hunting party!"

The calico stood up to go leave by one of the providers' command, but not before answering, "Because you're clearly superior to your sister and Fox is trying to put you two on equal ground." As Scorched Briar walked out of camp with her campmates by her side, a small squeal of surprise lifted the patched she-cat's spirits.

* * *

**Heeeeey. This chapter is basically an intro chapter to give you some depth about one of our protagonists - Scorch!**

**also I'm already done with writing out Scorched Briar in full. heh heh**


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